MADISON, Wis. — Snapshot: A dejected bunch of Wisconsin basketball players slink off the court Thursday night after an underwhelming road performance, shielded by the watchful eye of security guards while Iowa's student section storms the center of its home floor.
Snapshot: A gleeful bunch of Wisconsin basketball players rally around Coach Bo Ryan in the locker room Sunday evening after one of the biggest road victories in recent memory. The watchful eye of a video camera lens records Ryan's celebratory moves before it hits the Internet.
The two polar-opposite moments in time, separated by less than 72 hours, demonstrate the maddening unpredictability of this year's Wisconsin team. It's also what could make the Badgers one of the scariest teams to face in the NCAA Tournament.
One night, Wisconsin loses 67-66 in Iowa City to a Hawkeyes team barely hovering above .500. Days later, the Badgers burst into Columbus and bury the eighth-ranked Buckeyes 63-60 in Value City Arena, where Ohio State had won 40 of its last 41 home games.
All season, Wisconsin (21-8, 10-6 in Big Ten play) has shown a propensity to play up-to or down-to its competition, and last week was no different. The Badgers inexplicably lost to the Hawkeyes for a second time in two months, swept in the regular-season series for the first time in 17 years. They also notched their first Big Ten road win over a top-10 opponent since 1980 — snapping a streak of 40 consecutive road losses against top-10 conference foes.
Ryan will never say that any Big Ten victory is bigger than another, but Sunday's result served as validation that the Badgers can finally beat the best teams in the country, not just play them close. Wisconsin's methodical approach is enough to keep the team in any game it plays against a more athletic, quicker opponent, but that hasn't always translated into victories.
This season, Wisconsin has lost 61-54 to Marquette, 60-57 at North Carolina, 63-60 in overtime to Michigan State and 58-52 at home to Ohio State — all teams likely to garner a higher seed than the Badgers in the NCAA Tournament — and the book on the Badgers appeared set. They were capable of beating below-average or average teams but not seriously challenging the upper crust in the college basketball world.
The victory on Sunday changes that perception.
When Wisconsin absolutely needed to score, it did, coming back from an eight-point deficit with less than eight minutes to play. Center Jared Berggren, the late-game hero, scored 10 of the team's final 19 points, and point guard Jordan Taylor added seven. The ability for someone other than Taylor to score in the clutch had been an unknown for much of the season, and it's what prevented Wisconsin from being considered a threat in tournament play.
What we know about the Badgers, ranked 14th in the country, as March Madness approaches is that players will guard opponents so closely that they can come back to the bench and describe what the opposition had for dinner the night before.
The Badgers lead the country in fewest points allowed per game at 52. They also rank sixth in field-goal defense (38.0 percent), second in 3-point field-goal defense (28.1 percent) and third in defensive points per possession (0.87).
Those numbers alone can sometimes make up for Wisconsin's offensive deficiencies.
Not many players in the Badgers' lineup, save for preseason All-American Taylor, are going to scare the daylights out of opponents on the scouting report — a situation that could work in favor of Wisconsin.
While Taylor received much of the early-season limelight, he slowly brought along a group of unproven players. Now, two role players off last year's team — forward Ryan Evans and Berggren — each average in double figures scoring.
The rest of the eight-man rotation is capable of big games, too. Reserve guard Ben Brust tied the Wisconsin record for made 3-pointers in a game twice this season with seven. Fellow reserve guard Rob Wilson is averaging 10 points over the past two games and is playing his best late in the year. And starting guard Josh Gasser is third in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting, at 45.5 percent.
Wilson and Gasser combined for 16 points on Sunday, when the Badgers needed every point it could find, further boosting the confidence of this team following the deflating loss to Iowa.
"We're a really mentally tough team," Gasser said. "When we were down by a couple at the end, we never thought we were going to lose it, so it's a good quality to have."
Oddly enough, the signature moment of Sunday's victory might not have come until after the game, when a jovial Ryan entered the locker room to address his team. Ryan often acts very seriously following a road win before simply saying, "Let's get on the bus." Given what he'd put his team through in practice following the Iowa loss, he felt compelled to change his usual routine with a defensive shuffle, saying the words with each slide before being mobbed in celebration by his players.
"You slow it down and you're working on muscle memory reflex of a step, lead with the foot, pivot on it," Ryan said. "After the Iowa game, we did an awful lot of those, probably more than the players liked. So I just wanted to tell them, 'Let's get on the bus.' I just did it a little differently."
Which Wisconsin team will show up when the NCAA Tournament arrives? Will it be one good enough to keep Ryan and the Badgers dancing for another weekend?
Therein lies the beauty — and unpredictability — of the Badgers.
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